Walton frankenstein gay

The facts of Byron's exile have been glossed over by most of his biographers. As Chung suggests, could Frankenstein indeed be a parable of repressed queerness?

Homosexuality in Frankenstein by

Frankenstein is a novel that explores the destructive possibility of both ambition and sexuality, making the text a wonderful gateway for discussions about LGBTQ+ themes. Almost immediately upon the opening of the novel, our initial character, Robert Walton, says that he longs for a “friend I desire the company of a man who could sympathize with me; whose eyes would respond to mine.

The biggest exception to this literary erasure is, ironically enough, the most iconic and celebrated screen versions of Shelley’s work, Universal Pictures’s Frankenstein () and its sequel Bride Of Frankenstein (), both directed by James Whale, one of the few openly gay men in Hollywood at that time.

He chooses to pursue power, and he creates a being entirely without the aid of the female body. Influenced greatly by the Victorian paradigm of homosexuality, Lord Byron, Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein to explore the inability to ignore or destroy one's sexuality.

Earlier this month, the National Theatre in London made its production of Frankensteinadapted for the stage by Nick Dear and directed by Danny Boyle, available to stream for free via their YouTube page. I personally don't think that Frankenstein was supposed to be gay, but saying that literary studies departments that discuss this interpretation should be defunded is absurd.

Robert Walton is an important character in Frankenstein, not only because he provides the frame narrative to Victor's story, but also because of Walton's numerous references to male companionship and his description of Victor as 'the brother of my heart'.

Unspeakable Sin Homoerotic Desire

In Frankenstein, Shelley gives the reader a multitude of strong male relationships that can be interpreted as homoerotic. Quite possibly. This is certainly the case with that other famous monster book, Draculawhich has gone from a distinctly xenophobic thriller to a tragic love story in the near years since Bram Stoker first published the novel.

Frankenstein seems to ignore sex altogether, eschewing it in favor of study. Puleo suggests Byron was homosexual, though it is more likely he was bisexual, attracted to both men and women. Frankenstein's passion clearly overshadows his affection for Elizabeth, and a similar situation arises between the creature and his woman counterpart Frankenstein remains unable to escape from the creature's grasp—from his homosexuality—until at last he frankensteins.

The walton Victor Frankenstein creates must be the perfect specimen of a man. The creature pursues Frankenstein and Frankenstein pursues the creature - they have eyes for none but each other, and women act only as intermediaries between the two.

Puleo writes:. When Frankenstein's wife walks in, his nostrils dilate and he turns away. Victor Frankenstein creates a large, masculine being in order to complement his own effeminacy and to fulfill his repressed homosexual desires. To Frankenstein, sex and family are mutually exclusive with the success and power he seeks.

Septimus Pretorius, archly played by the effete English actor, Ernest Thesiger, a personal friend of Whale's. Frankenstein turns sex—and Elizabeth—into something unnecessary, frivolous, and low Frankenstein can never safely acknowledge his curiosity or even the existence of the male body as a sexual object, which leads him to regard sex itself as panic-inducing.

Walton's gay four letters are perfect for opening up discussions about how friendship, sexuality and gender were used to structure the society Shelley was writing in. But is there more of Lord Byron in Frankenstein than this general germination?

The creature dies only after Frankenstein's death, finalising Shelley's idea that homosexuality is a natural, inextinguishable trait. Guardian writer Fiona McCarthy notes :. As Chung explains, this rejection stems from sexual repression:.

The creature acts also as a symbol of Frankenstein's sexuality. Frankenstein Colin Clive.